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THE TRADITIONAL family
mealtime is alive and well.

Results of a recent national
survey show that more than 90%
of Canadians believe that
mealtimes are important for fam-
ily socializing and that families
should eat together as often as
possible.

“The most significant finding,”
notes Cheryl Clark, president of
Actionable Market Research, the
firm which conducted the study,
‘Gs that Canadians act on these
beliefs.”

The study shows that 60% of
Canadians living in multiple-per-
son households eat together as a
family every weekday evening.

The average is four out of five
weekday evening meals enjoyed as
a family.

“*We were particularly interested
in separating weekday from
weekend meals,’? Clark explains.
‘‘We thought that people’s eating
patterns would be more haphazard
during weekdays, especially in
families where the meal preparer
works outside the home.”’

Not surprisingly, when the
primary meal preparer is
employed, the number of meals
eaten together as a family is
lower, but only marginally.

The presence of teenagers has
the most disruptive influence. In a
separate study of 200 teens in
Toronto and Vancouver, teens in-
dicated that they ate with the
family only one-third of the time.

The study also looked at at-
titudes towards, and time spent in,
meal preparation.

Eighty-five per cent of respon-
dents consider food a source of
enjoyment and meal preparation
as fun when you cook for some-
one.

Rat
oy

a
i

lies sti
nerness

More than three-quarters of
those surveyed are not willing to
give up ‘from. scratch’ food
preparation.

OF the 900 respondents, 57%
cook a meal from scratch every
weeknight and 80% cook from
scratch four nights out of five.

Of meal preparers working out-
side the home, fewer (52%) cook
from-scratch meals five times per
week.

How much time do Canadians
spend preparing meals?

While few would give up
preparing the meal, almost half of
those surveyed consider speed and
ease of preparation as the most
important factors in food
preparation.

Out of five weekday meals, 34
meals are prepared in under 30
minutes. And Toronto meal
preparers seem to be in a greater
time crunch; 30-minute meals are
the norm, four out of five times
per week.

The most difficult aspect of
meal preparation is deciding what
to serve, with 69% reporting this
to be the worst part of meal
preparation.

When is the decision made?
Almost two-thirds of respondents
indicate that they normally plan
their weekday evening meals early
in the morning or sometime dur-
ing the day.

The tendency to decide what to
eat just before the meal itself is
stronger among full-time working
people and is based on what they
have time and energy to prepare.

Overall, the most important
factor in determining what is
served is the meal’s popularity
with family members.

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AY 5.75%
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To take advantage of this special offer, call now
for an appointment, or visit our on site information
centre between 2-4 pm Saturday & Sunday.
JACQUELINE ASHWORTH

Tel: 922-1622

Pager: 650-4750

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